José Cruz Ovalle: Bodega en Los Robles

San Fernando, Colchagua Valley, Chile

Bodega en Los Robles is located in central Chile, in a valley where the land is most suitable and prominently known for the cultivation of Carmenère and Cabernet Sauvignon. Designed by José Cruz Ovalle and associates Ana Turell and Hernán Cruz, this bodega stands as the first organic, autonomous, closed-system, non-contaminated vineyard in Chile.

José Cruz Ovalle, born in Santiago de Chile, is a Chilean architect that is well know for his use of wood and designs that beautifully integrate nature, creating a harmonious relationship between nature and man. Coming from a family of architects, Ovalle attended Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in Chile where he studied architecture, later transferring to la Universidad Politecnica de Cataluña in Barcelona where he received his degree. During his time in Barcelona, Ovalle opened his own practice in 1975 where he worked for 12 years before returning to Chile to open his Santiago-based studio José Cruz Ovalle y Asociados with wife Ana Turell, Hernán Cruz and Juan Purcell Mena.

Part of Ovalle’s process consists of beginning with sculptures as a way of understanding the rhythm of material and form through physical senses. Much like his works, his sculptures display a complexity that he has very clearly mastered and is able to convey with ease. These dynamic forms are best seen in his manipulation of wood as both structural and sculptural elements in his designs. As a result, he has received many awards, one of them being the Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award in 2008 for his mastery of wood.

Built on Viñedos Santa Emiliana, the bodega was built between 2001 and 2002 and takes up approximately 3,385 sq.ft. of the vineyard. Ovalle and associates made use of natural and local materials to cultivate and emphasize the biodynamic unity between nature and man in the context of agricultural processes like wine production. The walls are made of zocalo de piedra con hormigon (base foundation of stones and concrete), adobe bricks and glulam wood. The main structure being made of laminated wood and topped with corrugated copper panels.

The form of the walls was created from the artisanal material, masa (paste/dough) typically associated with the adobe bricks and concrete. Here is where Ovalle’s sensibility makes its presence as the focus becomes the feeling of the masa with the hands and the body. Feelings that go beyond the construction process and later persist as the body inhabits and works in proximity to the material. In this case, however, the masa is not just the adobe or the hormigon, but the wood, the stones the copper roof finishings. Together these materials create harmonious spaces which users are able to connect with to the same capacity that they connect with the agricultural and vinification processes of their biodynamic practice.

Citations:

José Cruz Ovalle y Asociados

SciELO

Emiliana Organic Vineyards

February 17, 2026February 19, 2026

Nursery School at Roches de Condrieu

About Architect

Brenas Doucerain Architectes is a Grenoble-based firm dedicated to the “frugality” and “essentiality” of construction.Their work focuses on the dialogue between architecture, local landscape, and human life. They believe matter is the substance of architecture. By using site-specific raw materials like rammed earth (pisé), they express the sensory and poetic qualities of the land without relying on artificial technology. The firm advocates for energy sobriety and low technologies. They treat architecture as a “frugal” tool—using only what is necessary to create human-scaled, adaptable spaces. Their designs utilize archetypal elements to bridge the gap between historical heritage and modern living, ensuring buildings are sustainable “traces in time.”

Program & Form

The site of the project is that of the courtyard of the current school group located in the center of town, dense tissue organized around the place of arms. The outdoor area reserved for elementary school children is closed between a dead end in the west and the existing Jules Ferry building in L to the east and north. Two beautiful plane trees inhabit this space.

Materials & Process

Traditional local rural architecture is built of rammed earth. The facade walls along the impasse, now demolished, had once been built with this local resource. The school group dating from the nineteenth century is built in masonry and the town hall located across the street. The new nursery school slips into an existing dense fabric, with a shoehorn, gently, between adobe walls and plane trees.

The project consists of a volume of R + 1 masonry and coated, slightly skewed to escape the plane trees of the yard. It is built along the impasse by a rammed wall forming basement which allows reconnecting with the vocabulary of the old walls, to implement an available resource on the spot, a clay and ocher earth.

On the courtyard side, a lower wooden structure leans against it and offers a covered space, the courtyard and an additional outdoor area, on the terrace, accessible to children for accompanied and supervised educational activities. It helps to decongest the yard on frequented during recess. It is deformed at the right plane trees to avoid their extended roots, slips under their rowing to enjoy their shade. The structural principle is simple and implements pieces of local solid wood, stacked, juxtaposed, superimposed, like the construction game for children. The upright timber uprights act as a sunshade in the east.

The organization of the spaces is done in a voluntarily long and stretched volume, which closes the courtside North while encroaching as little as possible on its surface. The distributive principle mono-oriented allows lighting the circulation naturally. Classrooms and activities are superimposed according to their decibel production; the changing room above the canteen, the library above the desks, the big classes above the little ones, and nothing above the restroom.

Inspiration

This project proves that rammed earth, an ancestral material, can meet rigorous modern public building codes through contemporary design. It is not only sustainable (low-carbon, recyclable) but also provides a warm, sensory environment that offers children a profound sense of psychological security. The architects demonstrate how to utilize “the soil beneath our feet” to create modern public spaces, moving away from a total reliance on concrete or industrial materials.

February 17, 2026February 18, 2026

Dot.ateliers, Adjaye Associates

Osu Waterfront, Accra, Ghana

(Adjaye Associates built a new home for dot.ateliers’ community and art space in Accra)

Dot.ateliers is located on the Osu waterfront in Accra, Ghana. The building was completed in 2023. The project covers approximately 540 to 600 square meters. Amoako Boafo founded the project as an artist residency and community art space. The building supports studios, exhibitions, and public programs for contemporary art in Ghana.

David Adjaye designed the project with his practice, Adjaye Associates. David Adjaye is a Ghanaian-British architect. He was born in Tanzania and raised in the United Kingdom. He founded Adjaye Associates in 2000. The studio works internationally. The practice focuses on culture, local materials, climate response, and social impact.

David Adjaye

(https://indonesian-recipes.com/)

Adjaye believes architecture should respond to place. He sees buildings as part of social and cultural systems. He does not treat architecture as a neutral object. He often uses local materials in his work. He always considers climate and geography during design.

Dot.ateliers reflects these values clearly. The building uses locally sourced rammed earth as its main material. The material reduces the carbon footprint. The material also connects the building to Ghana’s construction traditions. The façade uses a double-skin system. The cavity between the layers improves thermal performance. The system helps regulate heat in Accra’s hot and humid climate. The material shapes both structure and atmosphere.

South-facing windows

Adjaye Associates built a new home for dot.ateliers’ community and art space in Accra

The site strongly influences the design. The building stands near the coastline. The ocean brings strong sunlight and steady winds. The architects needed to manage heat, light, and ventilation. The surrounding neighborhood contains small residential buildings. The area does not include high-rise towers. The building keeps a modest scale in response. The building rises three stories. The building remains compact and controlled.

West Section

(https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-news/fzmgm/adjaye-associates-built-a-new-home-for-dot-ateliers-community-and-art-space-in-accra?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

The ground floor creates the main connection to the city. A perforated timber screen defines the entrance. The screen forms a transition between the street and the courtyard. The screen creates a space that feels both open and protected. The ground floor contains the café and gallery. The courtyard brings light and air into the center. This level supports public activity and circulation.

Ground Floor Gallery

Adjaye Associates built a new home for dot.ateliers’ community and art space in Accra

The upper floors contain more private spaces. The second floor holds artist studios and work areas. The atmosphere becomes quieter on this level. The top floor contains additional studios and enclosed rooms. The organization follows a clear vertical order. The building moves from public to private as one moves upward.

(Dot Ateliers / Adjaye Associates | ArchDaily)

Interior materials support this order. Exposed concrete appears in circulation areas. White plaster defines the gallery spaces. Timber adds warmth to transitional zones. Each material helps clarify function.

The Cafe

Artist’s studio

(Dot Ateliers / Adjaye Associates | ArchDaily)

The roof completes the spatial experience. The sawtooth roof introduces north-facing clerestory light. The roof allows soft and even daylight to enter the gallery. The roof reduces glare and excessive heat. The roof acts as both a formal gesture and a climate device.

Dot.ateliers shows how a small building can carry strong meaning. The project connects culture, climate, and community. The project expresses the values of Adjaye Associates through material and space. The building remains simple, grounded, and precise.

(dot.ateliers – Adjaye Associates)

Citations

1.Dot.ateliers / Adjaye Associates — Project Overview, ArchDaily. Retrieved from:
https://www.archdaily.com/1036823/dot-ateliers-adjaye-associates

2.Dot.ateliers — Project Detail, Adjaye Associates (official project page). Retrieved from:
https://www.adjaye.com/work/dot-ateliers/

3.Adjaye Associates — Studio Official Website, Adjaye Associates. Retrieved from:
https://www.adjaye.com/

4.Adjaye Associates Built a New Home for dot.ateliers Community and Art Space in Accra, WorldArchitecture.org. Retrieved from:
https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-news/fzmgm/adjaye-associates-built-a-new-home-for-dot-ateliers-community-and-art-space-in-accra

February 17, 2026February 24, 2026

Rammed Earth House: Tuckey Design Studio

About the Design Studio

Tuckey Design Studio (UK) explores the cultural, social and emotional connections formed with buildings over time. They seek to transform structures, through adaptive reuse of existing buildings or sustainable new construction, into places that serve their occupants for generations.

Rammed Earth House

Sector: Residential
Client: Private
Location: Wiltshire, England
Area: 810 sq m
Collaborators: Todhunter Earle Interiors, Stonewood Builders (Contractor), Lehm Ton Erde (Rammed earth consultant)

Recently completed in the Wiltshire countryside is a pioneering new build homestead that’s relearnt an ancient building method.

Located on a former brickworks, the series of buildings has risen upon an area of clay rich soil which, alongside recycled aggregate from demolished outbuildings, forms the composition for the rammed earth. The home is one of a few examples in the UK that utilize unstablised rammed earth; a circular construction method involving no cement in the mix.

Castle-like walls inexorably bind the building to its landscape, forming walled gardens and visually offset by Douglas fir and oak timber frames that contrast with the monolithic earth structure. Distinguishing elements include decorative niches embedded in the walls, a spiral staircase, rammed earth flooring in the snug and a ‘storm terrace’ from which to observe the dramatic cloud formations over the West country landscape.

This house should also make clever use of the inside/outside spaces, particularly for entertaining, and feel intimate enough for two, but it could host 20.

The result is an H‑shaped plan incorporating five bedrooms, with an additional two in the staff quarters across the drive, and a separate flat on the first floor of a Victorian house that was otherwise mostly demolished to make way for the new homestead. There is a boot room to support equestrian pursuits; a puzzle room for playing games; two walled gardens; and Bachelardian snugs, nooks and landings for lounging and socializing outside the living and dining room areas.

At 810 sq m, sat on a 63-acre estate, the property is large; yet the studio’s clever design and high-spec yet tactile and organic materials afford a comfortably intimate feel.

Sourcing material from the site

When faced with a spectacular view, architects often find it hard to resist the temptation to make it the central focus; think expansive glazing that makes rolling hills visible from every point. But Tuckey believes there can be too much of a good thing: that a view is best when rationed and mediated. “You need to pace it,” he says. “You can have one moment where you get it all, but it also needs to be sliced up and served in small chunks.”

The notion of imperfection set the tone for the project’s most significant design decision: the use of rammed earth. When the client demolished some buildings on the site, an old brickworks, they discovered clay underneath. And rammed earth is durable and energy efficient, also forgiving.

Triple glazing and the thermal mass of rammed earth walls support the sustainability strategy.

Deep windows with timber-lined reveals frame landscape views.

Refining the rammed earth mix

The process is as follows. First you dig up the clay, then you dry it for anywhere between a few weeks and six months – in this case, two or three – before crushing it into a powder. When you’re ready to build, the clay is mixed with an aggregate, which can be gravel or broken-up bricks, blockwork or concrete. Here, the demolished buildings on the site were the first option, but when that didn’t provide the right consistency, gravel was sourced from nearby to correct the balance. The material was then combined with water to form a “dry, biscuity consistency”. The clay and aggregate mix requires 7 per cent water content for optimal results

This was tipped into formwork and compacted from 150mm to about 75mm for the external walls and 100mm to 50mm for the internal ones, to make them tighter and less prone to dusting. The external walls are stratified with layers of pozzolanic lime mortar that act as an erosion check – ‘speed bumps’ for falling water – every 300mm, and every layer on the corners. The most exposed walls are tiled with stone for additional strength. Walls are typically 400mm thick, but range up to a meter, requiring no joints for more than 100m in length.

An oak spiral stair is structurally independent of curved rammed earth walls.

A rich interior palette and hidden technology

Together, the team created features ranging from a wooden spiral staircase to enormous pivoting doors. Creative freedom was balanced with a common understanding of the atmosphere required. The end result comprises spaces that vary from double-height atriums to cozy nooks, creating a sense of discovery and variety. Recessed niches for objects echo the benches carved into exterior walls. The palette is rich and tactile: earth walls finished with a muted, protective casein coating, limestone, oak, copper and clay plaster.

While craft and materiality are the house’s most evident characteristics, it is far from arcane. A lot of technology is hidden within the earthen structure. There’s a fully automated lighting system, a ground-source heat pump for hot water and heating, a photovoltaic slate roof to generate electricity, and troughs harvesting rainwater for watering the gardening – all of which fulfil the client’s expectation of high functionality and sustainability.

Kitchen-diner with custom-made cabinetry.

Inspiration

In terms of the house’s eco credentials, it was unable to obtain Passivhaus certification on account of having too many junctions – perhaps an indication of it being, by most standards, an exceptionally large house for two people. Its true eco legacy, within the context of a country that faces dual housing and climate crises, is the range of possibilities it opens for wider applications of unstabilised rammed earth. Tuckey Design Studio is now working with Stonewood to explore ways of using prefabricated rammed-earth components in a terraced housing project.

Rauch’s company, Lehm Ton Erde, produces such elements in Austria, but he has long maintained that transporting panels across great distances offsets the carbon savings made by using the material in the first place. Instead, Rauch promotes ‘field factories’ situated as close to building sites as possible – a little like Rammed Earth House’s on‑site laboratory, but standardised and at a larger scale. This house marks an important step in demonstrating the viability of unstabilised rammed‑earth construction in the UK.

The house incorporates two walled gardens, protected from the elements, as well as a greenhouse. The unstabilised rammed earth is capped by brick ‘hats’, which protect the walls from direct rainfall

sources:

February 17, 2026

The Windhover Contemplative Center

The Windhover Contemplative Center is a one-story, 4,000-square-foot spiritual refuge on the Stanford University campus. It was designed by the architecture firm Aidlin Darling Design and named after a series of paintings by artist Nathan Oliveira.

About the Architect

The cofounding partners of Aidlin Darling Design at the Center for Architecture + Design in San Francisco. Photography: Adam Rouse.

Aidlin Darling Design is an architecture firm based in San Francisco, California, founded in 1998. It was established by two partners, Joshua Aidlin and David Darling.

They earned their Bachelor of Architecture degrees from the University of Cincinnati, where they met as students. Their collaboration began with woodworking and furniture-making projects, which later developed into their architectural practice.

They see design as a multisensory experience, where the way something feels, smells, and sounds is as important as how it looks.

About the Architecture

The building is situated beside a natural oak grove. Visitors enter through a long private garden, where a bamboo grove at the entrance separates the building from the outside world.

The building primarily uses rammed earth, stained oak wood, glass, and water elements to create a sensory and contemplative atmosphere. Inside the center, thick rammed earth walls and dark wood surfaces create a strong contrast with the light-filled eastern wall.

Matthew Millman Photography

Water and landscape elements are integrated throughout the project: fountains within the interior and courtyards create a calm atmosphere, while a quiet reflecting pool and garden on the south side mirror the surrounding trees.

The outdoor meditation spaces blend seamlessly with the daily use of the center, reinforcing the connection between nature, art, and contemplation. The courtyards and the expansive glass curtain wall on the east allow visitors to view the paintings without entering the building, creating a peaceful place for the Stanford community both day and night.

About the Material

The rammed earth walls, ranging from 18 inches to 2 feet thick, were hand-tamped pneumatically in 6–8 inch lifts. The pressure was carefully controlled to create a variegated texture that reflects the construction process.

The soil beneath the building initially produced a rich brown color, similar to the sandstone buildings of Stanford’s original campus. While beautiful, the pure site soil proved too dominant for the artwork. Ultimately, a five-part blend was developed, with 20% of the material sourced directly from the site. The remaining ingredients included coarse sand, “birdseye” gravel, powdered rhyolite, decomposed granite, and Portland cement.

Oliveria’s Windhover Dyptich, 36 feet long and six feet high, hangs on 234,000 pounds of rammed earth-a wall twenty feet tall by sixty feet long. A wall this tall requires two form set-ups. With a stacked form you need to give careful consideration to the location of the stack point. Notice the cold joint runs right through the center of the painting.

February 17, 2026February 18, 2026

DUST: Tucson Mountain Retreat

The project was designed by DUST (Design, Undertaking, Space, Territory), led by architects Cade Hayes and Jesús Robles. Completed in 2012 in the Tucson Mountains, Arizona, the approximately 2,300-square-foot residence reflects the studio’s commitment to material authenticity and desert-responsive architecture.

The Tucson Mountain Retreat is located along more than 900 feet of shared boundary with Saguaro National Park, embedded within the rugged and ecologically sensitive Sonoran Desert. Surrounded by dense stands of towering saguaro cacti, the site conveys a profound sense of stillness and geological permanence. The architecture responds not as an object placed upon the land, but as a form shaped by its climate, light, and topography.

Conceived as an experiential rammed earth residence, the project approaches the desert landscape with restraint and reciprocity. The muted tones and layered texture of rammed earth define a restrained program that opens generously toward the horizon. Circulation sequences deliberately extend outdoors, folding landscape into daily life. Shifting desert light, filtered views, and seasonal changes become active participants in the spatial experience.

The clients—a physician from San Diego and his wife—sought both reconnection to the desert landscape and a space that supports music as an integral part of daily life. The program includes living spaces, bedrooms, and a dedicated music studio. A clear separation strategy organizes these functions to enhance site integration while ensuring acoustic isolation between the studio and private areas.

The structural system integrates load-bearing rammed earth walls with concrete and steel elements, while large operable glazing systems frame expansive views of Saguaro National Park and facilitate cross-ventilation.

Arrival is marked by a sequence of fractal concrete cubes that offer an open-ended path toward two separate entries: midway up the ascent, a narrow slit marks the bedroom entry, while a dark square void defines the main entry.

Rammed earth walls traverse the plan, dividing it into three primary zones while providing thermal mass and acoustic buffering. The central living space, open to both north and south, acts as the core of the house and as a transitional buffer between the music studio to the west and the sleeping quarters to the east.

Material and sensory engagement are central to the design. Spanish cedar introduces warmth and scent in the bedrooms, while charred wood surfaces in the bathroom core evoke the cracked textures of a drought-stricken desert floor.

Each programmatic component is accessed via exterior passages, encouraging repeated engagement with the landscape.

Above, a spiral stair leads to a roof deck oriented toward expansive desert views and night skies.

When large sliding glass panels retract, the house dissolves into a shaded, ramada-like pavilion, animated by wind, scent, and the changing desert light.

February 17, 2026February 18, 2026

Lara Fuster Prieto: Earth House

Architects: Lara Fuster Prieto

Location: Boadilla de Rioseco, Spain

Year: 2022

Area: 142 m² (1,500 sqft)

Construction: Local Adobe

Earth House, designed by Lara Fuster Prieto, is located in the small town of Boadilla de Rioseco in rural Spain. The project explores how traditional building methods can still work for contemporary life. The house is designed as a permanent residence and focuses on sustainability, energy efficiency, and thermal comfort, while keeping its environmental impact low.

Aerial photo of the house and the town © Milena Villalba

The building has a simple rectangular shape made up of four parallel bays running east to west, which helps maximize sunlight throughout the day. The north façade faces the street and has smaller, unevenly placed windows, similar to traditional houses in the area. On the south side, the house opens up with large windows that act as solar collectors during the winter months. In the summer, wooden shutters and a pergola covered with deciduous vines provide shade and help prevent overheating naturally.

The structure is built using load-bearing adobe walls made from locally produced bricks measuring 33 × 15 × 10 cm, sourced within 40 kilometers of the site. These walls are insulated on the exterior with cork panels, creating an external insulation system that greatly improves energy performance. The gable roof is made from a wooden sandwich panel with cork insulation and finished with reused curved clay tiles, allowing the house to blend in with the surrounding village buildings. Instead of cement, lime mortar mixed with straw is used for the exterior plaster. This material is breathable, helps regulate moisture, and is more sustainable over time. Wooden doors and windows further reduce the home’s carbon footprint, while roll-up shutters act as passive sun protection.

Inside the house, the partitions are lightweight and built with exposed wooden slats, recycled cotton insulation, and medium-density wood boards. To bring in more natural light and create a sense of openness, the upper portions of these walls include polycarbonate panels. Some of the adobe walls are left exposed, highlighting the material and giving the interior a warm, earthy feel.

Thanks to the thermal mass of the adobe, the house maintains stable indoor temperatures between 22 and 24°C during the summer, even when outdoor temperatures reach over 40°C. Because of this passive performance, the house does not require any active cooling systems and achieves an A-rated energy classification. In the winter, underfloor heating is used, inspired by the traditional “glorias” heating system found in the region.

In summary, the Earth House project focuses on reducing environmental impact while using local, traditional materials to stay connected to its cultural context.

Exterior Photo from Street © Milena Villalba

Fuster Prieto, Lara. Earth House by Lara Fuster Prieto: A Sustainable Adobe Home in Rural Spain. UNI.xyz, 2 Apr. 2025, www.uni.xyz/journals/earth-house-by-lara-fuster-prieto-a-sust.

Fuster Prieto, Lara, and Milena Villalba. Casa de Tierra / Earth House Project Details. Divisare, 2023, www.divisare.com/projects/480657-lara-fuster-prieto-milena-villalba-casa-de-tierra

February 17, 2026March 4, 2026

Donald Judd and Adobe

Donald Clarence Judd (1928–1994) was an American artist best known for his role in the development of Minimalism. His work has had lasting influence on art, architecture, and design.

Judd was born in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. He studied philosophy and art history at Columbia University and later painting at the Art Students League in New York. He worked as a painter until the early 1960s, when he began producing three-dimensional works that challenged conventional definitions of sculpture. These works emphasized repetition, clarity, and structural logic rather than representation.

By the early 1970s Judd had become dissatisfied with the temporary nature of gallery exhibitions. He believed art needed a permanent and carefully defined setting. In 1971 he moved to Marfa, Texas, where he began purchasing buildings and land in order to establish long-term installations under his own direction.

Downtown Marfa, Texas, 1942. © Keith Archive. Courtesy Marfa and Presidio County Museum.

In Marfa, adobe was part of the existing building environment. Rather than bringing industrial construction methods from New York, Judd worked with local builders, reused salvaged adobe bricks, and sometimes produced bricks on site.

For Judd, permanence was not only about duration but about spatial stability. Works were meant to remain in fixed positions, in spaces with consistent proportions and light. Adobe, as a load-bearing and materially durable construction system, allowed the architecture itself to remain stable over time. The walls were not temporary partitions but structural enclosures, creating fixed spatial conditions for installation.

Adobe bricks for The Block/La Mansana de Chinati, 1975. © Jamie Dearing.

One of the clearest examples of this approach is La Mansana de Chinati, commonly known as “The Block,” located in downtown Marfa. Judd began to install work in the east building of the Block in 1973. Instead of demolishing the three existing buildings, he altered them to suit the purposes of living and working. He constructed a 9-foot adobe wall on the south side of the property using existing adobe bricks from the former Toltec Motel and Virginia Hotel.

Drawing for La Mansana de Chinati/The Block, October 29, 1982. © Donald Judd

Between 1973 and 1979 the remainder of the exterior wall enclosing the property was constructed, totaling 1,441 feet and approximately 30,000 bricks. Within this perimeter, a second U-shaped wall further articulated the courtyard. Together, these walls establish a sequence of outdoor rooms and reshape the relationship between street and interior space. Openings are carefully proportioned, and the thickness of the walls creates deep recesses and strong shadow lines.

Donald Judd, untitled, 1976-1985, adobe bricks and cement, La Mansana de Chinati/The Block, Judd Foundation, Marfa, Texas.

Winter garden at The Block/La Mansana de Chinati, 1982. © Lauretta Vinciarelli.

Interior view of the south room of Donald Judd’s, La Mansana de Chinati West Building (artwork © Judd Foundation / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York).
© 2024 Judd Foundation / JASPER, Tokyo E5493

The Block accommodates residence, studio space, a library, and open courtyard areas. Domestic life and artistic production are not separated but integrated within a continuous spatial framework. Adobe functions simultaneously as structure, boundary, and climatic mediator in the desert environment. The geometry remains restrained—rectilinear volumes, planar walls, orthogonal alignments—yet the earthen material introduces weight and physical presence distinct from Judd’s earlier industrial works.

Interior, Print Studio, La Mansana de Chinati/The Block, Judd Foundation, Marfa, Texas, c. mid-1980s. © Adam Bartos.

Interior, Second library, La Mansana de Chinati/The Block, Judd Foundation, Marfa, Texas, 2012. © Flavin Judd.

Another important project is the adaptation of what is now called the Chamberlain Building in central Marfa. Here Judd transformed former warehouse structures to house the permanent installation of works by John Chamberlain. Although the existing buildings were not constructed entirely of adobe, Judd introduced adobe elements to clarify enclosure and spatial hierarchy, including the construction of a new west-end wall. Roofs were rebuilt, skylights installed, and openings adjusted to refine the quality and distribution of light.

John Chamberlain Building, 2022. © Alex Marks

John Chamberlain Building restoration, 2022. © Alex Marks.

Courtyard of the John Chamberlain building with adobe wall. © Alex Marks.

Across his projects in Marfa, adobe was used as a structural and spatial material rather than as decorative reference. It serves as a means of achieving permanence and spatial definition. Its thickness reinforces enclosure; its method of construction shows labor and process; its mass anchors the buildings to the desert landscape. These interventions create measured and continuous spatial fields in which art, habitation, and landscape coexist.

February 17, 2026February 17, 2026

Toronjos House

Casa Toronjos | Houses

Architect: PPAA

Location: Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico, Mexico

Year: 2024

Area: 312 m² (3358 ft²)

Construction: Adobe

PPAA (Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados) founded in 2018 by Pablo Pérez Palacios. (Mexico City, 1980)

Pablo is an architect from the Universidad Iberoamericana from Mexico City and the Polytechnic University from Catalonia, Barcelona. He has a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design by the Columbia University in New York.

“… architecture of ideas and not form.” Their studio focuses on simple, clear ideas shaped by context, using void as an active space, developing concepts through drawing, and allowing time to test and strengthen the connection between architecture and place.

Toronjos house is a single-story vacation home designed to harmonize with its natural surroundings. Conceptually, it is an extension of the landscape, prioritizing a minimal footprint and a fully sustainable design.

The house acts as a sanctuary for contemplation where nature is centered. Staggered walls and large openings create protection while framing views and letting the landscape pass through the space. This allows natural light and ventilation while maintaining a close and continuous relationship with the outdoors.

The design centers on relaxation and enjoyment. Semi-outoor social spaces and hammock areas encourage pause and connection with nature. The goal of Toronjos is to experience and preserve the natural landscape.

The project was constructed by adobe and wooden beams, which were left exposed to add warmth. The floor was handcrafted with adobe produced on-site, and the walls are finished with an adobe plaster that harmonizes with the surrounding color palette.

Exterior View from Lake | Fabian Martinez

Not only using local labor and materials, the commitment of sustainability is embodied in every aspects: it collects rainwater and supports the site’s ecosystem, turns the house into a sustainable system.

The modulation follows the maximum 3-meter span allowed for mud brick construction without steel reinforcement. The adobe is produced on site, minimizing transport and supporting a local micro-economy through local materials and labor. Toronjos house responds directly to its site and conditions.

Toronjos is, essentially, architecture that doesn’t dominate. It blends seamlessly with the landscape, enhancing it and becoming a natural extension of it. The building doesn’t seek to stand out, but rather to disappear among the vegetation, water, and earth, embodying a way of living in harmony with the environment.

Toronjos | PPAA https://www.ppaa.mx/en/ongoing-en/toronjos-2/

Casa Toronjos ArchDaily https://www.archdaily.mx/mx/1036313/casa-toronjos-ppaa

February 16, 2026February 17, 2026

Le Corbusier: Les Maisons Murondins

Les Maisons Murondins is a series of conceptual earthen refugee housing projects proposed by eminent architect Le Corbusier in collaboration with his partner Pierre Jeanneret during the mid-20th century.[1] In the wake of Germany’s invasion of France and Belgium in May of 1940, France was partitioned into three zones: a military zone in the north occupied by Nazi forces, an Italian colony in the East, and the collaborationist Vichy government in the South.[2] This process saw millions displaced as a result of the German invasion, and forced many refugees into abject conditions bereft of housing or sufficient infrastructure.

Elevation of a “Murondins” unit showing facade and openings, attributed to Pierre Jeanneret, 1940.

Respondent to the devastation of the Second World War, Corbusier and Jeanneret began working on a proposal for refugee housing known as Murondins— a combination of the French words for wall (mur) and logs (rondins). Murondins prioritized earth and wood materials and construction techniques, owing to their accessibility and exceptional performance. Earth and logs did not require advanced industrial infrastructure in order to manufacture and assemble, meaning residents were equipped to construct Murondins themselves.[3] Furthermore, walls could either be constructed out of rammed earth, or blocks of earth combined with lime depending on the circumstances. In essence, Murondins sought to use whatever materials were readily accessible, and designed to be built quickly, without special expertise.

Sketches of the “Murondins” structural system by Le Corbusir, 1940.

This idea did not only operate materially through the use of earth and wood construction, but also formally through the use of long, rectangular walls, and an offset gabled roof— forms that ensured stability, and that those without technical knowledge or experience in construction could produce them. The internal structure of Murondins was proposed to be entirely constructed out of earth, arranged in L-shaped formations to ensure structural stability.

Roof Section of a “Murondins” Unit by Pierre Jeanneret, 1940.

As for the roofs, they were to be made out of logs and waterproofed using sod, plaster, and tar paper. For purposes of ventilation, roofs were also offset, with one side of the gable taller than the other, to accommodate for daylighting and passive ventilation.[4] With this Murondin system, a range of buildings accommodating whatever programs were necessary for life could be constructed for refugees, by refugees using natural and readily available materials. Although this proposal never made it to fruition, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jenneret’s Murondins continues to serve as an instrumental historical proposal for accessible, communal earthen construction.

Sources:

[1] McLeod, Mary, “To Make Something out of Nothing: Le Corbusier’s Proposal for Refugee Housing” in The Journal of Architecture, 421–47, 2018.

[2] Hart, B.L, “Battle of France,” in Encyclopedia Britannica, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-France-World-War-II.

[3] McLeod, Mary, “To Make Something out of Nothing: Le Corbusier’s Proposal for Refugee Housing” in The Journal of Architecture, 421–47, 2018.

[4] Mary McLeod, On the Maisons Murondins, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt94ZA8TkVw.